Combined bathtub safety grip and towel rack



June 30, 1936. R wlEsJAHN 2,045,815

COMBINED BATHTUB SAFETY GRIP AND TOWEL RACK Filed Dec. 28, 1935INVENTOR. k

Zfi lino/(40A Meyn I W amiww ATTORNEY.

Patented June 30, 1936 UNITED sT rss PATENT OFFICE I COMBINED BATHTUBSAFETY GRIP AND TOWEL RACK This invention relates to safety means forsupporting the bodies of bathers whileraising or lowering themselves ina bath tub and more particularly to a combined hand rail safety gripandtowel rack which may be demountably arranged on the bath tub.

Accidents. in the home, most frequently happen to bathers who, onraising or lowering themselves in the bath tub, slip on the wetporcelain because there is not conveniently provided on the bath tubadjacent the 'bather, means which may be readily grasped to support thebody.

My invention therefore contemplates the .provision of a hand rail safetygrip which is adapted to be demountably arranged on the side wall of abath tub.

Such devices heretofore found in the art are arranged for associationonly with bath tubs which are provided with a lip, rim or roll'around,

the upper periphery of the'wallswith which the :hand rail supportscooperate for attachment to the tub. Suchdevices are not adapted forassociationwithother types of bath tubs, for exampl the built-in bathtub. I

My invention therefore contemplates the provision of means forattachinga hand rail safety grip which may be readily and securelyarranged on any type of bath tub, without causing said attaching .meansto mark or otherwise disfigure the porcelain ofthe tub while at the sametime therebyproviding astrong and convenient sup- ,-port. for thebather. j

In such devices heretofore found, onlyasingle hand railis provided,which hand railisarranged adjacent and above the bath tub side wall andtherefore comparatively higher above the shoulder of ;the bather. Thisdoes not provide a hand rai-lwhich is conveniently positioned to supportthe body-of the bather as it israised from the tub.

My invention overcomes this inherent disadvantage by providing a handrail which may be rotated about the upper .part of the bath tub sidewall to be thereby -disposed inwardly of the tub adjacent the waist ofthe bather, and which when not in use may be rotated to be therebydisposed outwardly of the tub. Devices heretofore used are'unsightly inappearance because of their complexity due to the desire to make themstrong and durable. V

My invention-provides a hand rail which when not in :use may bepositioned outside of thebath tub to thereby provide a towel rackarranged to enhance the appearance of the device and th bathroom inwhich it is placed.

My invention further con-templates the provision of a compact, durableand highly efiicient device which is simple in construction andcomparatively inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and install.

Further objects of my invention will be clear from the description whichfollows and from the drawing in which 1 I Fig. 1 is a topplan viewshowing my combined hand rail safety grip and towel rack arranged on abath tub.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of my combined hand rail safety grip andtowel rack.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the bath tub gripping means.

Fig. 4 isanenlarged detail side view and partial sectional view of thebathtub gripping means.

Fig. -5 is an enlarged detail elevational view of the gripping means inposition against the wall of abath tub.

Fig. 6 is a partial side view of my combined hand rail safety grip andtowel rack arranged on a bath tub.

In that practical embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated byWay of example, on the frame I 0, I provide a tubular cross bar I I,which is secured at each end to the apertured bar receiving shoulders12, arranged on the saddle brackets I 4 and which cross bar may, ifdesired be threaded or forced in the apertures in any suitable manner. Iprefer to cement the cross bar in the apertures by means of a suitablewaterproof cement in order to prevent any water from entering thetubular cross bar to thereby rust it and causeit to deteriorate.

Arranged adjacent each of the 'bar receiving shoulders, I provide thecollar l6 which is rota- V tively arranged on the cross bar. anddepending from which collar is a union 18.. Arranged in the union Iprovide thehand rail supporting rods 20 which are each secured inanapertured leg 22 of the elbow coupling 23, which for purposes ofenhancing the appearance of my device, may take the form of a roundedknob. A hand rail 24, arranged parallel to and below the cross bar H, issecured in the other apertured leg 25 of the elbow coupling and which ispreferably cemented therein by means of a suitable waterproof cement inany suitable manner. It will be seen that the hand rail is therebyswingably arranged in the frame about the crossbar.

In use, the device is preferably arranged on the side wall 26 of thebath tub 21, the parallel arms 28 and 30 of the saddle brackets beingarranged substantially parallel to the side wall of the bath tub andextending at least more than half way toward the bottom of the tub.

It will be apparent that two hand grips are thereby provided adjacentthe bather, one a short distance above the top of the tub and the otherof which may be arranged inside the bath tub approximately near thewaist of the bather, and which are conveniently positioned for use sothat they may be readily grasped by the bather to support the body as itis raised from or lowered into the tub.

In order to provide means for demountably and rigidly securing thedevice to the side wall of the tub, I provide a gripping plate 32 havingan aperture 34, through which a pivot rod 36 extends. In order toswivelly secure the plate on the pivot rod so that it may adjust itselfto the external bounding surface of the side wall of the bath tub, whichin practice varies in shape and outline, the aperture 34 of the plate ismade somewhat larger in diameter than the pivot rod, which is peenedover at its innermost end 38 adjacent the plate aperture to therebysecure the plate on the pivot rod.

In order to adjust the saddles 0n the bath tub wall and to securely gripthe wall of the tub therebetween and accommodate the varying wallthicknesses encountered in practice, I provide the threaded adjustingmember 40 which is arranged in a corresponding threaded aperture 42 onthe saddle arm 36 and which adjusting member is provided at one end withthe hand actuated adjusting head 44, preferably knurled to provideasuitable grip, and on the other end of which adjusting member isarranged the pivot rod 36.

On the saddle arm 28, I preferably provide a bolt 46, which extendsthrough the aperture 48 on the arm and which has secured on itsinnermost end a second gripping plate 56, swivelly arranged thereon in amanner similar to the plate 34, and oppositely disposed thereto, so thatthe bath tub wall is gripped therebetween.

It will be apparent that thesaddles may .be arranged on any type of bathtub and in any desired location thereon. In order to securely grip thebath tub between the plates, the adjusting member 40 is actuated to urgethe plate 34 toward the plate 50 to thereby rigidly secure the device onthe wall therebetween.

In order to securely and rigidly attach my device to a bath tub, Iprefer to provide the plates with pliable soft rubber washers 52, sothat the adjusting member gripping plate is urged tightly against thebath tub side wall, the rubber washers being sufliciently pliable tosecurely grip the side wall and conform to the contour thereof withoutdanger of any damage to the porcelain.

In order to increase the gripping effectiveness of the washers, I preferto provide on the inside faces 54 thereof, the annular channels 56, tothereby effect a suction gripping plate. As the rubber washers areforced against the bath tub side wall, air is forced from the annularspaces provided by the channels, thereby creating a vacuum between thewall and the gripping plates which insures a rigid grip on the tub.

It will be apparent that my device may be rigidly and securely arrangedon any type of bath tub regardless of the contour or arrangement of theside wall which is provided.

In order to enhance the appearance of the device when it is not used asa safety grip, the hand rail 24 may be rotated into a position adjacentthe bath tub wall and extending outwardly thereof, in which position thecross bar and hand rail may be used as towel racks, so

that the frame and mechanism of the device are hidden from the eye ofthe observer.

When the device is to be used as a safety grip by a bather the towelsare removed and the hand rail rotated into a position on the inside ofthe bath tub and extending thereinto adjacent the waist of the user. Inthis position the bather has the use of two bars to assist him ingetting into and out of the tub.

It will be apparent that such a device will prevent numerous accidentswhich occur to bathers because the ordinary and usual bath tubencountered in practice is not provided with convenient hand rails orother means to assist the bather into and out of the bath tub.

It will be apparent that I have provided a device which is extremelysimple in construction and which is adapted to be demountably attachedto the side wall of any type of bath tub. It will be further apparentthat I have provided means for attaching a safety hand grip securely andreadily to the side Wall of a bath tub and which means will not mark orotherwise disfigure the porcelain of the tub, while at the same timeproviding a strong and convenient support for the bather. It will befurther apparent that my device may be used as a towel rack to therebyenhance the appearance of the device and the room in which it is used.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, it willbe understood that such disclosure is merely illustrative and that othermodifications apparent to those skilled in the art may be made theretoand that I intend to claim my invention as broadly as permissible andlimited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

- 1. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to bedemountably arranged on the wall of the bath tub comprising a frame,a'cross bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of thetub, a second cross bar depending from the first mentioned bar, parallelthereto, and swingable thereabout and means for securing the frame tothe bath tub wall including opposed tub engaging plates having softpliable insets, said insets provided with an annular collar and athreaded adjusting member operatively arranged in the frame, one of saidplates swivelly arranged on said threaded adjusting member. I

2. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to bedemountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub, comprising a frame, across bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bathtub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to thefirst cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame fordetachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub.

3. In a device of the character described, a

frame, means on the frame for securing the device to the side wall of abath tub, and a hand rail arranged on the frame and swingable about theframe, whereby the hand rail in one position may be disposed inwardlyand extending substantially downwardly of the tub adjacent the said sidewall and in another position may be disposed outwardly of the tub andextending downwardly adjacent the said side wall.

4. In a device'of the character described, adjustable means thereon fordemountably securing the device on a bath tub side wall, a cross bar onthe device arranged above the bath tubside wall and means adapted to begrasped depending from the cross bar and swingable thereabout, wherebysaid grasping means, in one position, may be disposed inwardly andextending substantially downwardly of the tub side wall adjacent theretoand, in another position, outwardly and downwardly of the tub side walladjacent thereto.

5. In a device of the character described, a frame, means adapted to begrasped arranged on the frame and swingable thereabout and means fordemountably arranging the frame on a bath tub, comprising a tub engagingplate swivelly arranged on the frame, a second tub engaging plateoppositely disposed to the first plate and swivelly arranged on athreaded member, said threaded member operatively engaging the frame tourge the second mentioned plate toward the first mentioned plate.

6. In a device of the character described, opposed tub engaging platesarranged thereon for demountably securing the device to a bath tub andadapted to grasp a part of the tub therebetween, said plates swivellyarranged on the device and thereby adapted to conform to the externalbounding surface of said tub and means on the device for urging one ofthe plates toward the other.

7. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to bedemountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub and comprising a frame, across bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bathtub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to thefirst cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame fordetachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub comprisingopposed rubber faced adjustable plates swivelly arranged on the frame.

8. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to bedemountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub and comprising a frame, across bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bathtub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to thefirst cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame fordetachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub comprisingopposed rubber faced adjustable plates arranged on the frame.

9. In a device of the character described, a frame comprising a handrail, a bracket supporting said hand rail and adapted to be arranged onthe side wall of the bath tub, a stationary tub securing plate swivellyarranged on one leg of the bracket and an adjustable tub securing platearranged on the other leg of the bracket.

10. In a device of the character described a frame comprising a handrail, a bracket supporting said hand rail and adapted to be arranged onthe side wall of the bath tub, a stationary tub securing plate arrangedon the leg of the bracket adjacent the inner surface of the bath tubside wall and an adjustable securing plate arranged on the other leg ofthe bracket adjacent the outer surface of the bath tub side wall, one ofsaid securing plates being swivelly arranged on the frame.

11. In a device of the character described, a frame comprising ahandrail, a supporting bracket arranged at each end of the hand rail, saidbracket adapted to be arranged on the side wall of a bath tub,stationary securing plates arranged on one pair of legs of the bracketsand. adjustable securing plates arranged on the other legs of thebrackets, said securing plates being swivelly arranged on the saidbrackets.

RUDOLPH WIESJAHN.

